An Ode To...The Women Of Orange Is The New Black

Maybe it was because you saw an ad for it in the subway and wanted to see if Laura Prepon still had it in her. Or perhaps you were won over by House of Cards, and wanted to see if the next Netflix original (that horror thing that we did not watch does not count) lived up to the raised bar. Or — very likely — one of your girlfriends urged you, begged you, to watch the show. "You'll watch all the episodes in one day," she might have warned. "It's the best thing, ever."

However you came to this point of complete Orange Is The New Black obsession, it doesn't matter. It's clearly a very good thing that Chapman, Vause, Red, Nichols, and the other inmates of Litchfield are a part of your life. Your psyche, eve. For a show that's staged in an environment that the majority of women will (hopefully) never experience, the themes hit very close to home. Who can't relate to damaged relationship that just won't quit? Feeling proud for your BFF who's rising to success but hurt that she won't be able to take you along with her? Feeling held down by forces you can't change? And also, feeling all the joy and empowerment that comes along with moments of human connection — and the micro-moments of triumph that happen in the most ordinary of lives.

So, we're taking a moment to say this: Thank you to the actresses, writers, and producers for creating a show with such nuance. Women are complicated creatures, and rarely do we get to see such a candid (and relatable!) take on female careers, sexuality, relationships, race, and religion as we do in Orange Is The New Black. Thank you for having a real transexual actress portray a transexual inmate; for nerdily planting a "Spock" joke with Star Trek alum, Kate Mulgrew; and for giving us the chance to see early '00s stars Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning, Jason Biggs, and Lauren Prepon really shine. Now...how many sleeps until Season Two?

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